This morning we completed loading the final piece of major equipment onto the drilling barge. It was somehow fitting that the last thing we lifted using our enormous 220T crane was . . . (drum roll) a crane. Yes, just a small crane that we will use for loading and unloading supplies from the drilling barge. The major components are now assembled, and we are hoping to finish all of the detailed work (hooking up hydraulics, electrical systems, etc.) over the next two days. We also received the "BugLab" from the GFZ today, unpacked it, and installed it in Sorowako. There it will reside for sample processing and experimental work by the Geomicrobiology team. As you can see, getting it to the research area was an interesting experience. Our friend Pak Anto (aka Simpleman) from CKB was really helpful in this. The last photo is from yesterday. A couple of people have asked me how all those barge containers are secured together into a solid piece. As you can see from the picture, the answer is with 350 pound screws. An important aspect of the drilling project is our outreach efforts to local stakeholders. Over the past week, we have met with the Bupati (district head) and many of his staff members and subordinates to discuss our project. In addition, we had meetings with district- and subdistrict-level police officers as well as local community leaders. Curious throngs of local villagers have also been visiting our barge construction site, and we've been very much enjoying our conversations with them about or project. Given the size of the project (and the huge size of our heavy equipments), some of the people we met thought we're going to do an oil and gas exploration! Thankfully we've been able to clarify a few misconceptions some people had about our project. As the project is progressing, we would certainly like to continue our conversation with local stakeholders, as their continuous support is critical to the success of our project. A huge thanks to Sulvi Suardi and Sinyo Rio for their assistance with our local outreach efforts. -satrio wicaksono (TDP on facebook)